In a three-point safety belt system, the belt extends from a top to a bottom point. A belt tongue, which can be connected with a belt buckle and divides the belt webbing into a lap belt section and an upper body or shoulder belt section, is located on the belt webbing. For this purpose, the belt tongue forms a tongue main body with an eye, through which the belt webbing runs.
It has become clear that in case of an accident, it can be advantageous to separate the lap belt section of the belt webbing from the shoulder belt section, i.e. to block the belt webbing in the tongue main body of the tongue.
In this connection, generic patent DE 198 22 473 C2 proposes a belt tongue in whose tongue main body has a bending and clamping element arranged so as to be rotatable around an axis. In a load-free condition this clamping element is in a first position, in which the belt webbing runs over a bending edge of the bending and clamping element. If the force in the belt webbing exceeds a predetermined value, the clamping element swivels around its axis and clamps the belt webbing with a clamping edge against a clamping cheek of the tongue main body. The clamping element has a shaft which having a rotation axis and which is supported in the tongue main body. The rotation axis passes through the shaft.
It is basically very important that occupant restraint systems in a motor vehicle react quickly if accidents occur. It is also desirable to form the belt tongue so as to be as light as possible, in order that the necessary retractor forces for the belt webbing retraction do not have to be increased.